All candidates in Delhi's three-pronged battle hope for victory

New Delhi: Several candidates who are in fray from the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital today cast their votes and exuded confidence about victory in the electoral battle. Union Minister Kapil Sibal and Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan, who are pitted against each other from the Chandni Chowk seat, were among the first to cast their ballot. When reporters asked Sibal whether he faces a different kind of challenge as AAP’s Ashutosh has made the contest triangular, he said that every election is a challenge in itself. [caption id=“attachment_1474369” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Meenakshi Lekhi, BJP’s New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency candidate posted a photo of herself after casting her ballot. Photo courtesy: Lekhi’s Twitter page[/caption] On the kind of election campaign it has been this time, Sibal said, “You should not make personal allegations….this election should be fought on issues.” Taking a dig at BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Sibal said, “But what has been happening is like soaps are being sold on TV. This election is not about issues but of advertisements and commodities and we regret it. There are those who are spending crores to sell themselves and the public has understood it,” he said. “So it is an advertisement, a commodity being sold. It is not an election of democracy….,” Sibal said. Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan, who was asked whether a decision has been taken that he will quit Delhi politics if he becomes an MP, said, “There is no question of quitting Delhi politics. Delhi is an integral part whether I am here or there in Parliament,” Vardhan said. “Right now the decision is that Harsh Vardhan has to become a parliamentarian to help Narendra Modi become the Prime Minister,” he said. Two-time sitting MP from East Delhi Sandeep Dikshit said he was “very hopeful” of his electoral prospects in the constituency and claimed that Congress has won a lot of lost ground after it suffered a massive defeat in the last Assembly elections. “We have climbed back a lot from what had happened in the Delhi Assembly. We are doing well, if you divide by region by people’s identities or occupational groups, everywhere I have seen a climb back by Congress. I think we should be able to do very, very well,” Dikhshit said. Asked about the reason of his optimism, Dikshit said that the euphoria AAP had created before the Assembly elections has gone down. He also conceded that Congress was “overconfident” and it didn’t talk about its “achievements and results”. “The campaign should have been more effective and perhaps only a positive campaign doesn’t work and this is why we have been negative also. In terms of outlining other people’s faults and weaknesses,” he said. AAP’s journalist-turned-politician candidate Ashish Khetan, who is in the fray from the high-profile New Delhi Lok Sabha seat against Congress leader Ajay Maken and BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, said that it’s the first time that the people of Delhi have an “honest option”. “The first time voters have only seen Congress’ misrule, It has been there for 10 years at the Centre and 15 years in Delhi. So they have not seen anybody else in power,” Khaitan said. “First time there is an option in Delhi. Otherwise there were just two options BJP and Congress. For the first time they have an honest option,” he said. PTI